Follow up--Reebok Deck Bench

I received my bench from ebay.  I'm so glad it was in reasonable shape and so very glad I got it for a good price. 

What I think of the bench?
It is freakin heavy!  I guess I should expect it to be for all that it does, but it makes it less portable for me.  Meaning, I dread moving it for my workout.  The bed is not as wide as the club step which is a bummer.  The bench is made well, even though it's plastic...it's a rigid heavy plastic.  I don't regret buying it, but I need to find a home for it.  I would really love to get rid of my Firm Transfirmer because I don't use that at all.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle

So I've joined a team challenge on Burn the Fat Inner Circle.  Just applying for the challenge took me out of my comfort zone.  To be eligible you had to post full body pictures for all to see.  It was an eye opening experience for me to see as well and I guess that's the point of it.  I mean, one showers and gets dressed everyday and touch our bodies in some form, but it hits home when you visually see the rolls on your back and all the work to be done.  Please ignore that run on sentence....lol

So we are in week 3 of the challenge.  Tom Venuto wrote a newsletter that a high percentage of participants abandon the challenge during this time.  I think I feel a little of that because after my bicep strain I haven't worked out.  My eating has been ok, but ice cream has been my evening meal for two nights now.

I keep reading all of the awesome results that people are getting with Jillian's program that I abandoned.  I know that its an awesome program, but I was just really uncomfortable with workout 3.  I think I modified it to the point that I lost the point of many of the moves.  I want to just suck it up and power through because I know the format works for great weight loss.

Decisions....decisions

New Venture-Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

For a while I've thought about doing a program with straight lifting.  I liked Jillian Michaels format, but felt a little lacking in hitting certain body parts.  I also like body pump, but it is a mish-mash of movements that eventually will work a variety of muscles.  It's like you do the workout and from soreness you conclude that a particular body part was worked in that particular workout.

I bought the ebook Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle a few years ago and thought about that format recently.  Sadly I could not find my ebook and ended up purchasing it again thinking it should have been updated since I bought it in the early 2000's.  With this purchase you were given access to Tom Venuto's website for two months called Burn the Fat Inner Circle.  It just so happens that at this time the summer 2012 challenge was about to start.  It's very timely because my motivation was starting to sway.

I joined a team challenge which consists of teams of 5 members.  You must post status updates on weekly which include current weight and body fat percentage.  What I found interesting for this challenge is that if a team member doesn't post or drops out of the challenge the team loses.  This gives you a less likely chance to flake out forcing the other members to lose.

We started on Sunday, June 3.  As part of the submission process you had to take pictures which include a front, side, and back full body shots.  O.M.G.!!  This was truly a wake up call.  I mean you shower everyday, but until I saw my pics I really had no idea how predominant the rolls on my back were.  Also, my pics do not fit my age and in fact I have the body of a much older person.

Since joining the Inner Circle, I started cleaning up my diet which was about a week before the actual challenge.  During that week I was 204 starting and by the end of the week with cleaning up my diet I'm at 200.6.  I'm super stoked about that progress! The next team weigh in is this Sunday, June the 10th.

The challenge is not all about the scale weight.  It's about placing goals and sticking with it.  The team are there to offer support and encouragement.  The challenge is for the entire summer and ends September....total 98 days.  It's written that a high percentage of members drop out.  I've never been on this type of a challenge so I am curious of what changes my body will go through and look like after 98 days.

I'll keep ya posted!